Construction Board Having a Fastening Means

ABSTRACT

A construction board with an integrated fastening means for mounting the construction board ( 1 ) on a construction material ( 17 ), such as a stud of wood or metal. The fastening means has a cage ( 2 ) arranged into the construction board ( 1 ) and a screw arranged into the cage ( 2 ). The screw is telescopic and has two parts ( 3, 4 ) with the same pitch of the threads. The screw might occupy two positions, one is a dismounted position, into which the first part ( 4 ) is telescopically received into the second part ( 3 ) when the screw is not extended, and the other position is a mounted position when the screw is extended.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a construction board having a fasteningmeans designed for mounting the construction board, in particular agypsum board or a plasterboard, on a construction material, such as ametal or wooden stud.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Construction boards are used when building ceilings, walls and floors,the boards being mounted on a metal or wooden stud by means of fasteningmeans. The construction boards may be made of different materials, suchas wood, plywood or preferably gypsum. Thus, the most required types ofscrews are gypsum screws adapted for metal and wooden studs,respectively. This has resulted in production of combination screwshaving specific threads, which may be used when mounting the board onwood as well as on metal due to the specific threads. The number ofscrews required for fastening a construction board varies depending onthe size of the board, but often 40-50 screws are needed for each board.

Different methods exist for mounting the board on the stud with thescrews. A usual way is to keep loose screws in a pocket, from whichscrews one by one are taken out by the installer during the mounting.This method may be hazardous, since the boards are heavy and difficultto handle. Further, when the installer is holding the tool with onehand, i. g. the screwdriver, and takes out the screw from the pocketwith the other hand, there is no hand free to hold or support the board.Other problems related to the working environment when using this methodare the risk for sticking damages at the moment when screws are takenout from the pocket, and also the risk of allergy due to the frequentcontact between the hand and the screws. The latter is a serious healthproblem that affects many people leading to necessary wearing of gloves,which makes the work further more difficult. In practice two persons areneeded for handling and mounting the gypsum boards when using loosescrews. The waste of screws, for example screws left into the pocket orscrews falling down on the floor, is also a problem.

Another usual method is to utilise a specific tool, into which a striphaving screws is inserted. The strip having about 50 screws is thenforwardly fed so that one screw at a time is placed in correct positionin front of the bit of the screwdriver. This makes it possible to haveone hand free to hold or support the board when the other hand handlesthe screwdriver. However, one problem with screw strips is that thestrips form folds, which result in production disturbances. The screwwaste may be considerable, since the screw strips often are changedbefore they are consumed for avoiding a change and thus an interruptionin the work, when the worker for the moment is mounting a constructionboard.

When using another similar method, the screws are placed on a striprolled up to a roll, which is placed on a device designed for thepurpose. This device feeds the screw to a correct position in the sameway as described above. However, the problem of these two methods is thedifficult handling of the total equipment comprising screwdriver, stripor roll and in some cases the device for the roll. As the screw feederoften is arranged on an extension of the screwdriver, which may have alength of about 0.90 meter, the weight of the roll or strip is obvious.The efficiency of the work is also deteriorated since time is requiredfor the changes of strips or rolls. In addition, the wear of theequipment is large resulting in frequent reparations and henceproduction disturbances, which may be a considerable total cost togetherwith costs for transportation, delays and additional work.

In practice one hand is used to handle the screwdriver at the methodsdescribed above, i. g. one hand is used to hold the tool and to start orstop it, and the other hand is used to guide the tool for correctpositioning of the screw into the construction board. Thus there is nofree hand to hold the construction board, and therefore one more personis required to perform the mounting in a safe way.

An alternate method regarding screws on a strip is to apply this methodtogether with a wheel supported device, which among other thingsfunctions as a support for the construction board, for example whenmounting the board as a ceiling. The screwdriver is then mounted intothe wheel-supported device, which may be moved across the floor andadjusted to the actual height of the roof. A mirror is provided in levelwith the eyes of the worker making it possible for him to see the roofwithout moving his head as a help to decide where to mount the screw.This method assumes that the floor is free from flexes or cables, wasteof building materials, screws, etc., and that the floor is coated orcovered in some way. Irregularities in the floor involve a largedisplacement of the position at the roof. This method is only utilisedin small extent at building sites due to its limitations. Thedisadvantages regarding the waste exist also for all three methods.

Screws, strips or rolls and construction boards must be ordered,transported, unpacked and distributed to various building sitesregardless which one of the above mentioned methods being used. Everyyear about 100 million tons of gypsum boards are mounted world widerequiring a very great number of screws, since at least two screws areneeded for each kilo of gypsum. To illustrate the extent of the work ofmounting gypsum boards, it could for example be mentioned that about40.000 persons in the United States daily are working full time withsuch mounting.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to remedy the drawbacks mentionedabove when mounting construction boards with screws, and to provide aconstruction board having an integrated fastening means for mounting theboard on a construction material.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a constructionboard having an integrated fastening means arranged into theconstruction board before delivery to the building site for eliminatingthe handling with loose screws, screw strips or rolls at the mounting.

To obtain above mentioned objects the invention provides a constructionboard having an integrated fastening means for mounting the board on aconstruction material, such as a metal or wooden stud, comprising a cagearranged into the board and a screw arranged into the cage, which screwis telescopic and which has a dismounted position, or a not extendedposition, and a mounted position, or an extended position.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention willappear from the following detailed description and from the attacheddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in further detail below with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 is an enlarged, schematic view of a cross section of a portion ofa construction board having a fastening means arranged therein accordingto the invention, wherein the fastening means comprises a two parttelescopic screw, which is shown in a not extended position;

FIG. 2 is a cross section according to FIG. 1, but with one part of thetelescopic screw screwed into a stud; and

FIG. 3 is a cross section according to FIG. 1, but with the other partof the telescopic screw screwed into the stud.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A portion of a construction board 1 having a fastening means arrangedtherein is schematically shown in FIG. 1. The fastening means comprisesa cage 2 and a telescopic screw arranged into the cage 2. The screwcomprises an inner part 4 (a first part) and an outer part 3 (a secondpart), and is shown in FIG. 1 in a not extended position, wherein theinner part 4 of the screw is mainly located within the outer part 3,which is arranged within the cage 2.

The cage 2 is slightly conical inside and outside, respectively, itsdiameter being largest at an upper side 1A of the construction board 1and decreases towards a lower side 1B of the construction board 1. Thecage 2, which has a partly or entirely circumferential flange 13, isfixed mounted into the construction board 1 so that the flange 13 liesat the level of and is engaged with the upper side 1A, for example bymeans of not shown pins or barbs, which are integrated with the flange13 and thus with the cage 2.

The outer part 3 has external threads 7, and at the top a collar 8 thatis arranged mainly at the level of the upper side 1A when the fasteningdevice is in its not extended position. The outer part 3 abuts the innerside of the cage 2—partly or entirely—for retaining the outer part 3into the cage 2 by friction. The outer part 3 has a through passage 5,into which the inner part 4 is arranged and which ends into an opening6.

The inner part 4 is formed as an ordinary screw having a screw head 10and a stem 11. The stem is conical and tapers into a tip at the endopposite the head 10. A star shaped recess is provided into the screwhead 10, which into the not extended position is arranged mainly at thelevel of the side 1A and which may be kept into this position by a waxlayer 19 or by a similar, easily breakable layer. In an alternateembodiment this layer 19 may be omitted. The stem 11 has externalthreads 12 having the same pitch as the threads 7 of the outer part 3.

The outer part 3 and the inner part 4 are separable connected to eachother by means of the wax layer 19, and the outer part 3 is kept intothe cage 2 by friction between the collar 8 and the inner side of thecage 2, which layer 19 prevents the fastening means not to fall apart athandling the construction board 1 provided with the fastening means.

Next will follow a description of the performance at mounting aconstruction board 1 having a fastening means according to theinvention. A tool having a screw driver tip 16A is applied into the starshaped recess in the screw head 10 and is brought to rotate, whereby theinner part 4—during breaking of the sealing 19 between the outer part 3and the inner part 4—is screwed into a construction material 17, such asa metal or wooden stud, into which the construction board 1 is to bemounted, and the stem 11 is passed through the passage 5 of the outerpart 3. When the inner part 4 is almost entirely protruded from theouter part 3 according FIG. 2 projections on a part 16B of the tool arebrought into engagement with corresponding projections 18 on the upperend of the outer part 3, i. e. in the collar 8, to carry on the outerpart 3 in the rotation when screwing the board 1 into the stud 17.optionally the carrier members could be of a different type, but theymust be designed so that an engagement by shape is provided between theouter part 3 of the screw and the tool 16B. Also the outer part 3 willnow be screwed into the construction material 17. When the outer part 3has been entirely screwed into this material 17, i. g. with its entirelength, the collar 8 abuts an edge 15 of the cage 2 and the head 10 ofthe inner part 4 abuts an edge 14, which defines the opening 6 as shownin FIG. 3, where the edge 15 defines the exit hole of the fasteningdevice 1, whereupon the screw motion is finished when both the parts 3,4 are screwed into the material 17.

The cage 2 can suitably be made of plastic, preferably of a softquality, or made of metal for allowing displacement of the collar 8through the cage 2 to the position shown in FIG. 3.

The length of the cage 2 is equal to the thickness of the board 1according to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 and 2. However, itshould be understood that the cage 2 also might be shorter according toan alternate embodiment. The opening 6 of the passage 5 may then forexample coincidence or fit into a hole arranged into the constructionboard 1, so that a through going channel is obtained for the screw whenmounting it into the construction material 17.

An alternate embodiment can include a cage 2 with a telescopic screwmounted therein comprising more than two parts.

The construction board 1 having the integrated fastening means accordingthe invention allows the screw to be correctly positioned without usingany apparatus for measurements. When using current technology often oneor more additional screws are used beside the first one mounted, ifthere is a risk that the first screw has been mounted incorrect,resulting in more screws than necessary are used.

A great advantage of the invention is the environmental gain.

1. A construction board having an integrated fastening means formounting the construction board on a construction material, for examplea metal or wooden stud, comprising a cage arranged into the constructionboard and a screw arranged into the cage, wherein the screw istelescopic and has a dismounted position, or a not extended position,and a mounted position, or an extended position.
 2. A construction boardaccording to claim 1, wherein the telescopic screw comprises two partshaving threads with the same pitch, of which the first part istelescopically received into the second part.
 3. A construction boardaccording to claim 2, wherein the both parts of the telescopic screw areformed with carrier members for engagement with a tool for screwing theboth parts into the construction material.
 4. A construction boardaccording to claim 3, wherein the carrier members consists ofprojections on the said second part for engagement with the tool afterprincipally complete screwing of the said first part into theconstruction material.
 5. A construction board according to claim 1,wherein the said first part is formed with a head that abuts against ashoulder into the said second part after being screwed into aconstruction material.
 6. A construction board according to claim 1,wherein the said second part has a collar that will abut a shoulder intothe cage after the said second part has been screwed into theconstruction material.